2017 Montreal ePrix I
2017 New York City ePrix II |next = 2017 Montreal ePrix II}} The 2017 Montreal ePrix I, otherwise known as the 2017 Hydro-Québec Montréal ePrix, was the eleventh and penultimate round of the 2016/17 FIA Formula E Championship, staged at the Montréal Street Circuit in Montreal, Canada on 29 July 2017.'FIA RELEASES REVISED SEASON THREE CALENDAR: DATE SWAP FOR NEW YORK CITY AND MONTREAL', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/09/2016), http://fiaformulae.com/en/news/2016/september/fia-releases-revised-season-three-formula-e-calendar/, (Accessed 28/09/2016) Located just a mile from the purpose built Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the first ever ePrix staged in Canada could potentially have seen crowned as Champion for the second season in succession. His main challenger, Lucas di Grassi made the better start to the weekend, sweeping to pole to effectively cut the Swiss racer's advantage down to seven points. Buemi himself claimed second on the grid, although that would become twelfth when he was slapped with a ten place grid penalty, a consequence of a crash in free-practice. A reasonably clean start saw di Grassi immediately sprint clear of the field, as title rival Buemi got caught in the swarm.'Di Grassi wins, Buemi disqualified', fiaformuale.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/di-grassi-wins-buemi-disqualified/, (Accessed 30/07/2017) The Swiss racer was too cautious on the brakes, received an unintentional swipe from Robin Frijns that damaged his steering, leaving him to limp around the opening lap in sixteenth. Fortunately for those looking for a fight-back Buemi was able to adapt to the problem, beginning a slow climb through the field. As he did so, di Grassi steadily moved clear of second placed , who was left fighting with Felix Rosenqvist for the second step on the podium. The pitwindow was fast approaching when Buemi finally breached the top ten, a move on securing the final point for the Swiss racer. Moments later and Nick Heidfeld tried a move on Duval, only for the Frenchman to push him into the wall, breaking the German's suspension while also damaging his own car. Heidfeld's attempt to get to the pits faltered, meaning a Full Course Yellow was thrown to retrieve his car. With the race neutralised a couple of laps before the optimal pitstop window the entire field swept into the pits. Buemi came in right behind di Grassi's teammate Daniel Abt, and the two would come to blows on the exit when the Swiss looked to have been released straight into the German's path. Both then shot out of the pitlane to rejoin, only for Buemi to stamp on the brakes to avoid hitting a non-stopping . Abt would hit the back of the Renault e.Dams, but neither driver would face retribution for the incident. Heidfeld's car was cleared and the race briefly resumed as it had before, until spun himself into the wall, bringing out the safety car. Once Lopez's wreckage was cleared the race restarted for the second time, with di Grassi hitting the FanBoost on the restart to hold his lead. Buemi was waved past teammate Nicolas Prost early on, before Rosenqvist tagged the wall and broke his suspension, promoting the Swiss racer to fourth. Out front, meanwhile, di Grassi was having to fend off Jean-Éric Vergne for the win, the latter almost taking the position as the pair started the final tour. Buemi, meanwhile, was throwing everything he could at third placed Sarrazin to get himself onto the podium, but a stout defence from the Frenchman would allow Abt and Prost to catch right onto the back of them as the final lap began. Yet, there would be no late twists on the final lap, meaning di Grassi swept across the line to claim victory, and the lead in the Drivers' Championship with one race still to go. Vergne and Sarrazin claimed another double podium for Techeetah, while Buemi was furious in fourth place, picking fights with everyone when he stepped out of the car in parc ferme. Unfortunately there would be a late twist after the race, when Buemi's freshly rebuilt car failed post-race scrutineering. A 4kg discrepancy in the car's weight was enough to see him disqualified from the result, meaning di Grassi would head into the final day of the Championship with an eighteen point advantage. Background Although the title fight dominated the news ahead of the finale, there were two almost trivial matters that emerged in the final week of the season, concerning a future addition to the series. The source of this news would be Mercedes-Benz, who announced that they would be joining Formula E for the 2019/20 season, giving them three years to prepare their entry.'Mercedes-Benz to enter Formula E in Season 6', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/mercedes-benz-to-enter-formula-e-in-season-6/, (Accessed 25/07/2017) The programme was set to continue alongside their Formula One commitments, and meant that they would face their national rivals Audi and BMW in yet another theatre of motorsport. A Germanic Invasion were set to join the FE family, becoming the fourth German manufacturer in the Series.]]The second development would come on the even of the Montreal ePrix, when a fourth German car manufacturer opted to announce their intention to join the series. This manufacturer would be Porsche, one of the most successful brands in motorsport, and specifically in sportscar racing, a huge coup for Formula E, increasing the number of teams to twelve.'Porsche set to compete in Formula E from Season 6', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 28/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/porsche-set-to-compete-in-formula-e-from-season-6/, (Accessed 28/07/2017) Porsche, who would unfortunately cancel their World Endurance Championship programme at the end of 2017 to focus on their FE debut, were to join in 2019/20 citing their desire to improve their electric car technology. A Montreal Magician? Championship wise and incredibly, despite not turning a wheel in New York, it was still who led the title charge, although Lucas di Grassi had managed to get within striking distance, ten points back. The Swiss racer would therefore return to action in the first Montreal ePrix with a chance of taking the title, a victory enough to see him crowned if di Grassi finished eighth or lower without taking pole or fastest lap. For di Grassi, meanwhile, it would be a case of trying to beat the Swiss racer on Saturday in order to give himself a better shot at the title on Sunday. There were two other drivers in the title hunt at the finale, although both were dark horses as the series rolled into Montreal. Felix Rosenqvist was one of those still in the hunt, although he would need both of the leading pair to hit trouble in both of the races in Montreal. Meanwhile, Sam Bird could dream of his first FE title although he, like Rosenqvist, would need a dramatic conclusion in Canada to see his name on the role of honour. ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport managed to fall further behind Team Championship leaders Renault e.Dams, who could now win the title in the first ePrix in Montreal. The French squad now held a 65 point advantage, and with 94 still in play the German effort could not be ruled out, although it would take a complete collapse from the double Champions to see them fail to claim a third title. Mahindra Racing and DS Virgin Racing, meanwhile, were sweeping in to challenge the German effort for second, with the former only twelve points behind and looking the stronger of the trio. FanBoost for the penultimate round of the 2016/17 season opened on the 24th July, and would remain open until the opening stages of the race.'FanBoost opens for first Montreal race', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 24/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/fanboost-opens-for-first-montreal-race/, (Accessed 24/07/2017) Entry List The full entry list for the is displayed below: Practice FP1 FP2 Qualifying There would be no changes to the qualifying format ahead of the first part of the season finale, with the field split into four groups of five drivers to begin qualifying.'Di Grassi and Buemi drawn together for qualifying', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/di-grassi-and-buemi-drawn-together-for-qualifying/, (Accessed 29/07/2017) Each group would have six minutes to set a single full power lap, with the overall order made up from each driver's best effort. The top five overall would then proceed to Super Pole, where they would have one shot at a full power lap on an empty circuit to try and claim pole position. Group 1 The opening group of the day featured the dark horse for the title, as Sam Bird headlined the quintet knowing he would need to take pole or his title challenge was over. The Brit would be on his own for DS Virgin Racing, with Daniel Abt and Nelson Piquet Jr. likely to challenge the Brit to get into Super Pole. The two Dragons of and completed the quintet. Temperatures had soared since the prematurely ended FP2 session, meaning grip was at a premium when Piquet led the field out onto the circuit half way through the session.'Di Grassi take pole, cuts gap to seven points', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/di-grassi-take-pole-cuts-gap-to-seven-points/, (Accessed 29/07/2017) The mutual hold by the teams would spell disaster for d'Ambrosio, who missed the chance to set a quick lap at all after going too slow on his warm-up lap. As for the rest, Piquet put together a terrible effort at the head of the field, Duval and Abt missed their FP2 marks, while Bird failed to set a representative time as his Virgin refused to go into full power mode. Group 2 Nicolas Prost headlined the second group of the afternoon, needing a strong result to aid his teammate's title bid. had the sister car in Techeetah colours in action, while the was keen for a strong run out after missing the fight in New York. Completing the quintet were the two Andrettis of Robin Frijns and , both hoping to be a hazard to someone other than themselves. Unsurprisingly it was the two Renault powered cars that shot to the top of the times during group two, although with Sarrazin ahead of Prost as both broke into the 1:23.000s. The two Andretti's meanwhile, sandwiched the group on track, da Costa heading out first while Frijns went out last, but they would fail to impress as they only recorded times in the 1:24.000s. Lopez, meanwhile, suffered an identical glitch to teammate Bird in the second Virgin, although he did beat the Brit's effort. Group 3 The third quintet was the main attraction of the afternoon, for the two major title protagonists Lucas di Grassi and would go head-to-head to try and get into Super Pole. The third of the title challengers was also in action in the form of Felix Rosenqvist, who would need pole to hold any hopes of a title charge going forward. Jean-Éric Vergne would threaten to claim a Super Pole in the second Techeetah as usual, while Mitch Evans hoped to get a top ten spot for Jaguar. First blood of the afternoon would go to di Grassi, an ultra-precise lap seeing the Brazilian go fastest overall, a 1:23.026 the result of his efforts. Yet Buemi could not be downhearted, for he was only three hundredths slower and second overall, with both looking set to go through to Super Pole. Elsewhere, Evans briefly got into the top five only to be bumped by Vergne, who was set to go fastest overall until he messed up the final circuit. Rosenqvist then came charging across the line to go fourth overall, leaving Prost on the bubble ahead of the final group. Group 4 Nick Heidfeld was the only big name in the final group of the afternoon, having looked strong enough for Mahindra Racing throughout the morning. The two Venturis were wheeled out for Tom Dillmann and Maro Engel, while Oliver Turvey and Adam Carroll were looking to beat their teammates. As expected there were no major thrills from the final group, although Heidfeld cut a disappointed figure after messing up his effort, leaving him well outside the top ten. That opened the door for Carroll to finish as best of the quintet, slipping in just behind teammate Evans in the overall standings, meaning it would be the best starting positions for both Jags. Dillmann and Turvey both achieved their aims as they snuck into the top ten, while Engel somehow suffered the same issue that the Virgins had had earlier in the session. Super Pole First out onto the circuit in Super Pole would be Prost, who was relieved that Heidfeld had messed up his effort in the group stage moments earlier. The Frenchman produced a largely clean effort to record a 1:23.330, a couple of minor mistakes costing him time early on. Rosenqvist followed him out, but the Swede's effort was over the moment he locked the rear axle while braking for turn one, meaning he could only manage a 1:24.351. Sarrazin caused a stir with an unusually uncontrolled effort, the Frenchman claiming a 1:23.179 to claim provisional pole. Buemi then hit the circuit and went fastest overall with a 1:23.065, having simply tried to keep out of the barriers. That put pressure on di Grassi to record a strong time or slip further behind the Swiss racer in the Championship, although the Brazilian would ultimately rise to the challenge. After a relatively slow opening sector di Grassi put together the fastest second sector of the weekend, hitting every apex to perfection. An equally precise third sector and the Brazilian smashed Buemi's time, a 1:22.869 giving him pole and reducing the gap to the Swiss racer to seven points in the Championship. The news got even better for the Brazilian when Buemi's ten place penalty was confirmed, leaving the Swiss racer in twelfth, while Prost was excluded from the Super Pole results when his car was found to be underweight. Post Qualifying The final qualifying results for the are outlined below: ** Buemi handed a ten place grid penalty for changing a battery. *† Prost excluded from the Super Pole results after his car was found to be underweight after that session.'10-place penalty for Buemi', fiaformulae.com, (FIA Formula E, 29/07/2017), http://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2017/july/10-place-penalty-for-buemi/, (Accessed 29/07/2017) *‡ d'Ambrosio failed to set a time within 110% of the fastest time in the group stages, but would race at the race steward's discretion. Race It was warm 24°C in Montreal ahead of its maiden ePrix, meaning that, as ever, it was battery temperature that was the main concern for the teams.ABB Formula E, 'Formula E Full Race Show: 2017 FIA Formula E Hydro-Quebec Montreal ePrix - Saturday', youtube.com, (YouTube: ABB FIA Formula E Championship, 29/07/2017), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmwA53FXNXY, (Accessed 23/05/2018) This was not aided by the relatively high track temperatures, resting at 29°C, meaning the Michelin tyres would also be at risk of overheating if drivers slid around too much. Regardless, all 20 drivers would line-up on the grid, with starting dead last after being granted permission to start. Report Pole sitter Lucas di Grassi made a good start off the line, allowing him to sweep across in front of Stephane Sarrazin to secure his lead into turn one. Behind, Nicolas Prost made a dismal start and got attacked by Jean-Éric Vergne, while the two Jaguars went eight side of the scrapping Renaults into the first corner. The ploy would work for Mitch Evans who ended up in fourth, while in the resulting concertina behind, Sébastien Buemi lost ground after his poor qualifying result. Indeed, the Swiss racer was simply hoping to avoid contact at the first corner, and duly drove so cautiously that he ended up further down the pack. Furthermore, the ploy ultimately failed, with Buemi getting attacked by Robin Frijns into turn two, only to clip the Andretti as the Dutchman dived inside. The resulting contact would break the Swiss racer's steering, with Buemi having to turn slightly to the left down the straights to keep in a straight line. The rest of the opening tour was equally frantic, with José María López attacking Maro Engel into turn nine, only for the German, and Buemi, to dart past into turn ten. That left the Swiss racer down in sixteenth at the end of the opening tour, as title rival di Grassi led the field with a small lead over Sarrazin and Felix Rosenqvist. Behind them came Evans and Vergne, while Prost fended off the attentions of Adam Carroll and Oliver Turvey. The early stages of the race would be all about the progress of Buemi, who quickly got over his steering issues to go hunting for points. Successive moves on Engel, Frijns and António Félix da Costa put the Swiss racer into twelfth by lap five, although the Swiss racer was still a few seconds off the back of the next group. Ahead, Rosenqvist would lunge at Sarrazin into turn one to try and gain second, but was ultimately blocked, while Nick Heidfeld forced Tom Dillmann into a mistake at the same corner, opening the door for himself and Daniel Abt to pass the Venturi. Evans would begin to fall away from the leaders after the opening stages, ultimately dropping to fifth behind Vergne after a mistake into turn one. The Kiwi then came under attack from Prost into turn four on the same lap, although the Frenchman almost lost a position to Evans' teammate Carroll into turn six. That fight further condensed the pack behind the #20 Jaguar, allowing Buemi to close onto the back of Dillmann at the back of the train. Abt was another driver on the move in the Evans queue, diving past Heidfeld into turn six as the Mahindra focused on re-gen. Behind, Buemi would lunge past Dillmann at the start of lap ten for twelfth, before taking a couple of laps to get into striking position behind Heidfeld. Indeed, the Swiss racer would wait until lap thirteen to take the German into turn three, while ahead Abt would catch Loïc Duval sleeping at the "Bus Stop". Indeed, it was the start of a quick decline for Duval, who was powerless to prevent Buemi charging past at the start of lap fourteen, before having to defend heavily from Heidfeld. Unfortunately, Heidfeld would force the issue into turn six despite Duval trying to squeeze him into the wall, resulting in heavy contact at the apex of the 90° right hander. Duval was put into a spin, recovering at the back of the field, while Heidfeld had terminal suspension damage that ultimately caused him to run into the barriers at the "Bus Stop". With Heidfeld stuck in a dangerous position the stewards had no choice but to throw a Full Course Yellow, prompting everyone bar Carroll, Engel, d'Ambrosio and Duval to pit at the end of lap fifteen. This would lead to some unsavoury actions in the pitlane, with Abt deliberately slowing Buemi down as they went along the pitlane, before the Renault e.Dams was released right into the path of the German as they left. Buemi then sprinted out of the pits before slamming on the brakes, leaving Abt no other option but to ram into the back of him at pit-exit. The Full Course Yellow was withdrawn at the start of lap seventeen, just as Carroll and Duval, who had been hit with a drive through penalty, came in to make their stops. On track, meanwhile, d'Ambrosio would get caught sleeping at the restart, with both Buemi and Abt diving past the Dragon into turn one. The Belgian was duly left to fend off a double charge from the Andrettis, who almost hit each other on the brakes for turn one on lap eighteen, before peeling off to make his stop. Buemi and Abt were continuing their upward climb by taking Oliver Turvey, Buemi into the "Bus Stop" before Abt dived past at the start of the following lap. Behind, Sam Bird was quietly climbing the order after a move on teammate López put him into tenth, with the Brit soon making his way past Turvey. Up ahead, Prost threw a dummy at Evans into turn six to grab fifth, allowing Buemi to pull onto the back of Jaguar at the end of lap 22. Evans ultimately yielded to the charging trio of Buemi, Abt and Bird, losing out to them at turn six, the "Bus Stop" and turn one respectively, all in the space of half a lap. López then took the Kiwi through turn six, only to push too hard into turn eight a few seconds later and go sliding into the barriers. The DS Virgin was left with heavy damage to the left hand side, with López climbing out in frustration. The wrecked Virgin was unrecoverable without off track intervention, meaning the BMW Qualcomm i8 safety car had to be called upon on lap 25. That would destroy di Grassi's three second lead out front, although tactical use of FanBoost allowed the Brazilian to sprint clear of Vergne at the restart. Prost, meanwhile, would allow Buemi to go up his inside into the first corner, before sharply coming across Abt and Bird as they tried to sneak through as well. A lap after the restart and Buemi made a mistake into turn one, catching out teammate Prost who was therefore powerless to fend off Abt into the same corner. Abt then launched an offensive at Buemi into turns two and three, while Bird was mugged by Evans into the latter left hander. Behind, da Costa sent himself spinning at the first corner after bouncing off the side of Piquet Jr., before Rosenqvist smashed his suspension on the exit of "Bus Stop". The Swede would quickly tumble down the order with his damaged rear-end, trying to crab his way to the flag as Buemi, Abt, Prost and Bird passed in short order. Bird would then go past Prost to claim sixth, having had an earlier attempt blocked into turn six, before going chasing off after Buemi and Abt. The Swiss racer, in the meantime, had tried to catch onto the back of Sarrazin, although as they started the final lap it seemed as if Buemi would have to settle for fourth. However, Buemi was not going to simply cruise around in fourth, and duly sent his Renault e.Dams slithering past Sarrazin into turn six. Sarrazin, however, would be stubborn in his resistance, holding on around the outside of Buemi, before squeezing the Renault towards the wall into turn seven. Buemi then ran went around the outside of the Techeetah through turn seven before squeezing Sarrazin into turn eight, although Sarrazin had just enough momentum to hold onto third into turn nine. Up ahead, meanwhile, di Grassi just managed to fend off a late challenge from Vergne to claim victory, putting the Brazilian into the lead of the Championship. Buemi crossed the line a furious fourth behind Sarrazin, while Abt held onto sixth ahead of Bird and Prost. Evans and Frijns were next, while Rosenqvist some how managed to drag his ruined Mahindra to tenth and claim the final point. Post-race As the field lined up in the pitlane after the race, Buemi would launch an incredible tirade at da Costa, believing it was the Portuguese racer that had broken his steering. When da Costa questioned what he was on about, Buemi stalked further down to confront Frijns, who believed that the Swiss racer was going to thank him for not causing a bigger accident. After a furious, but one sided, exchange Buemi then went off to challenge Abt, before proclaiming that both the German driver and his team ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport were "dirty". However, while Buemi was burning bridges with his post-race antics, his second, rebuilt, car was being weighed in post-race scrutineering. That check saw the Renault e.Dams weigh-in 4kg lighter than it should have done, meaning that the Swiss racer was disqualified from the results. That meant that Buemi would head into the final day of the season eighteen behind di Grassi, effectively handing the Championship to the Brazilian. Result The final classification of the is displayed below, with the fastest lap setter indicated in italics, and the pole sitter shown in bold. * Indicates a driver was awarded FanBoost during the race. ** Buemi disqualified after his second car was found to be 4kg underweight. Milestones * First ePrix to be staged in Montreal. * Lucas di Grassi claimed his third pole position. * Fourth pole position set by an ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport entry. * Sixth career win for di Grassi. ** It also meant that the Brazilian became the only driver other than to lead the Championship in 2016/17. * Jean-Éric Vergne earned his eighth podium visit. * Third podium for . ** This was also his team Techeetah's fifth podium finish. * Second fastest lap set by . Standings There was a new Championship leader heading into the final round of the season, with Lucas di Grassi taking an eighteen point advantage over into the finale. The latter's late disqualification meant it was the former who entered the final race as favourite, with di Grassi needing to finish fourth or higher to make it impossible for Buemi to overhaul him. Countless other scenarios would allow either one of them to win, as Sam Bird and Felix Rosenqvist dropped out of the fight. Renault e.Dams had all but secured their third title in a row in the Teams Championship after Buemi's fourth place, although ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport were still in mathematical contention. Buemi's disqualification had made it slightly closer between the two efforts, although the latter would still need to claim a maximum score alongside a seventh place finish at a minimum. Mahindra Racing and DS Virgin Racing were engaged in a private fight for third, while Techeetah were best of the rest in fifth. Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown. References Videos and Images: * References: Category:EPrix articles Category:2016/17 ePrix Category:Montreal ePrix